Brunswick County parents seek changes to homeschool, private school athletic eligibility policy
BOLIVIA, NC (WWAY) — As the start of a new school year approaches, the father of a home-schooled student is asking school leaders to reconsider athletic eligibility rules they say prevent homeschooled and private school students from participating in public school sports.
The issue was brought before the Brunswick County Board of Education on Tuesday by parent Nathan Strawderman, whose son, Carson, is entering ninth grade.
Last August, Carson Strawderman helped the South Brunswick baseball team win the Diamond Youth 12-U World Series in South Carolina, a championship he hopes will not mark the end of his opportunity to play alongside many of the same teammates.
“It was just exciting, just to finally get to win that in the triple-digit weather, in the middle of the day, it was so fun,” Carson said.
Under Brunswick County Schools’ current policy, homeschooled and private school students must take at least three high school-level courses through the county’s community college to be eligible to compete on public school athletic teams.
Brunswick County is one of only a handful of school districts in North Carolina that require more than one course for eligibility.
Nathan Strawderman said he wants the district to give students like his son the opportunity to represent their community through athletics.
“We’re from here, we live here, this is our community, and we want our children to represent their community,” he said. “I want them to be able to feel that on a public school level as well. I want those kids to stay together.”
Also attending Tuesday’s meeting was Matt Overcash, athletic director and teacher at Southport Christian Academy and head baseball coach at South Brunswick Middle School. Overcash said he has seen families struggle with choosing between their preferred education and the opportunity to compete in athletics.
“They have to make a decision once they hit the middle school age of will they stay in the school of choice or will they have to make a choice for sports?” Overcash said. “I hate for anybody to have to choose, and no one should have to choose the right to play because of what they choose where they get their education.”
Brunswick County Schools Superintendent Dale Cole defended the district’s policy, saying families make an educational choice when they decide to homeschool or enroll their children in private schools.
Cole said changing the policy could negatively affect students already enrolled in Brunswick County Schools by increasing competition for limited roster spots.
“The unavoidable consequence of that is that we would have Brunswick County School students who meet our eligibility requirements for sports who would have to be cut from teams or who would lose playing time on their teams to home-schooled students that don’t meet the same requirements that our students are required to meet,” Cole said.
Cole added that the school board has received similar requests in the past, but, to his knowledge, there are currently no discussions among board members about changing the district’s athletic eligibility policy.
